Running: Agbay brothers put weight, great distances behind them

As youths in Shrewsbury, the three Abgay brothers played baseball and stayed involved in other sporting activities, and sometimes even enjoyed them together.

"There were some epic Wiffle ball games in the backyard," recalled Peter Agbay, the middle of the three siblings, yet the last to catch the ultra-mileage, trail-running bug.

Michael Agbay, the oldest brother at 41, was the first, starting his road to the trails six years ago, and Christopher Agbay, the youngest, followed his lead.

Today, all three are veterans of 100-mile trail events, all married with two children. None are among the leaders at these races all over the country, but Francine and Al Agbay's three sons couldn't be happier with their avocation that has all in tip-top shape and has brought them closer to each other. Often, the three have packed a car and headed to the White Mountains to train on the trails for the day.

"I've felt very fortunate that the three of us can goof off together," said Michael, who lives in West Boylston and works in technological services at Hanover Insurance in Worcester. "It's another avenue for us to spend time together."

Michael graduated from Assumption College in 1995, after playing football for the Greyhounds. By 2008, his weight was up to around 250 on his 5-foot-6 frame and knew he had to do something.

"I wasn't compelled by going into a gym," he said, yet there were hiking trails behind where he worked, at Fidelity Investments in Merrimack, New Hampshire. On lunch hours, Michael started hiking the trails, then started running them as he monitored his diet. "I started running them so I could explore more."

Within about six months, he found himself in marathon events, running on trails exclusively, with mountain trails the preference, often with Clarice, the family shelter dog. Within a year, he had dropped about 100 pounds, and today he weighs about 160.

Michael runs about 50 miles a week, "but I don't track the distance." He has completed three 100-mile mountain trail races and several others of 50-mile, 50K and marathon distances.

Until five years ago, Christopher, now 37, was sporting a similar physique to that of Michael before he hit the trails. He was at 5-7¼, up to about 280 pounds, "and at the time, I had my head buried in the sand." At two-pack-a-day smoker at the time, he had trouble following his 4-year-old daughter around the driveway. "She was giving me this look, 'You're robbing me of my childhood.' "

Christopher, nicknamed Christo, had also been "kind of outdoorsy," so he naturally started his walking on the rail trail near his home in Holden. When he started running the trails, he did so with Michael. "He was kind of supporting me, giving me company."

He registered for a 5K/10K trail race, and things took off from there. "The more I got into this small,-niche society, the more I found out about these longer-distance events," said Christo, who for the past 16 years with Peter has run the Wicked Good Cookies bakery in Boylston. "It kind of came on quick."

On Friday, Christo, also a 100-pound loser, will take on his fifth 100-mile trail race, the Hardrock 100 in Silverton, Colorado, an event that has 33,000 feet of elevation gain and loss. He has 25-30 ultra-distance races behind him.

"There are times I won't know how I'll be able to run another 60 miles," Christo said, "but it's incredible how you can set your mind to it, to know what you can do and cannot do."

Peter, a former soccer and baseball player at Babson College, had kept himself in a little bit better shape. Since 2009, he had cycled in the Cape Cod Getaway, a two-day, 150-mile ride to benefit multiple sclerosis, with which a college roommate had been diagnosed. He had also played in Tuesday night soccer leagues, but at 5-9, 215, he was "uncomfortable."

"And I was watching what they were doing, and I wanted a piece of it," said Peter, who lives in Shrewsbury. "I thought what the hell, I can do that, too. And what my brothers have done, both of them are pretty inspiring."

Peter, now 39, started trail running in 2011 and competed in a trail marathon that year. And the competitive distances increased — a 50K followed in 2012, a 50-miler in 2013, and two weeks ago, the first 100-miler, the Bighorn 100 in Wyoming with brother Michael. That came a week before he did his sixth Cape Cod Getaway last weekend.

Peter has finished the Mount Washington Road Race twice and completed the Spartan Ultra Beast, a 30-mile, 60-obstacle course at Killington in Vermont. "I also enjoy road cycling and mountain biking and basically just like being outside and moving," he said.

While Peter has run on Mount Washington's road, all three prefer paths to pavement.

"On the road, it's just pounding," Peter said. "On the trails, you can just enjoy it a little more."

"It requires more exertion, but there's much less pounding on your body," Michael said. "On the roads, there's a lot of pounding on the joints, and it's boring.

"It's better looking at the top of that mountain as you're running up and enjoying what you've done when you get there," he added. "After all, who wants to look at cars and buildings all day?"

Benefiting Equine Rescue

Registrations for the Run Like the Dickens 5K at Old Sturbridge Village are coming in at a better pace than they did for the inaugural running last year.

Just more than 200 have signed up for the July 13 race in Sturbridge as of late last week, reported Susan Sheridan, the president of Bay State Equine Rescue, the worthy organization benefiting from this race. She noted a little more than 300 registered for last year's race.

The race starts at 8:30 a.m., with race-day registration beginning at 7. For more information, visit www.baystaterescue.org.